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Friday, May 2, 2014

Kips Bay Decorator Show House 2014: Sneak Peek

The invitation arrived for
the Kips Bay Decorator Show House Opening Night Reception; it's doorway graphic
seemed to not only whisper a warm Gotham welcome but to arouse a twinkling design-fantasy curiosity about a secret world to be explored just past that portal.

The Decorator Show House is
not like falling through the rabbit hole despite boasting Bunny Williams as
the Show House Chairman -- sorry, I mean no disrespect; chalk it up to irresistible
sweet bunny-rabbit springtime thoughts - plus it’s also the second time I've run
into this icon of design in less than two weeks...

And to continue the
reference – the show truly showcases the magic of the decorative artists pulling a rabbit out of the hat.

They make beauty and utility look like two sides of the same coin.

The astonishing
compositions wrought by the creative interior designers, artists, and
architects will render you gobsmacked and thinking you've stepped into a dream
worthy of a Hollywood set.

The press preview Sneak
Peek was scheduled Wednesday afternoon and despite torrents of rain that would
make any hostess forgive you for cancelling plans - the attendance at the show
was rather brisk, confirming that New Yorkers are made of strong mettle.

And Metal - of the
precious, metallic and industrial sort - turned out to be a theme spotted
throughout a majority of the decorative art installations.

There was:

Glamorous gold

Regal silver

Coveted Copper

Stainless Steel -- and more.

Hmmm… Surely the designers
didn't all get a memo about the use of these spectrum altering surface
materials.

I asked every designer who
featured the metals and while most didn't have a quick reference or answer as
to why, Rachel Martin, the confident, knowledgeable director of marketing for Matthew Quinn’s (www.matthew-Quinn.com)
dramatic Show House Kitchen that flaunted a palette of mixed metals from brass
to polished nickel, explained the metal inspiration came to Quinn from the
building's industrial feel.

Bingo! Go to the head of
the class - or brass, as the case may be!.

While initially the
cover-girl glamour of the mansion makes the industrial reference rather
oblique, the pedigree of the now landmarked buildings helps explain.

The Villard
Mansion, home to this year's Show House, was built by railroad magnate,
HenryVillard, as a series of townhouses in the early 1880's at the height of
the Industrial Revolution.

Today, the McKim, Mead &
White-designed Villard mansion that looks like an Italian palazzo is a perfect
locale for the Kip's Bay Decorator Show House.

In fact, you can
"double-dip" and make it a truly spectacular visit by making
reservations to dine at the Villard Michel Richard restaurant, located across
the twinkling courtyard in the Palace Hotel, all owned by Northwood Investors.

You can float throughout
the three floors of 22 inspired room designs, shop in the decorators’ Kips Bay pop
up and then sashay over to Villard Michel Richard or Pomme Palais and thanks to
moi and the Magrino team, you can enjoy 15% off throughout the duration of the
Kips Bay Show House, including Mother’s Day.

I’ll tell you about the
cooking class with the huggable Chef Michel, later.

Devine Design

Stepping into the Villard
Mansion’s decorator rooms, I was especially taken aback to see the
transformation from the drab meeting space where The New York Botanical Garden
had held it’s annual fall lecture series when it was the Urban Center -- and
surprising -- given the lackluster look of the place, the Architectural
League.

Surely, this was magic.

Juan Montoya was the
first room I entered – a habit to turn left into the lecture room, I guess.

The scale of this room is
HUGE: with an almost 16 foot ceiling-- it is the biggest room in the show.

The polished stainless steel desk is 12 feet
and the double-sided, undulating sofa is also 16 feet.

Titled, “Untitled,” (why go
there?) Montoya’s rep explained the Columbian designer wanted to play with
proportion and scale; most of the artwork on display is Montoya’s own.

Yikes, it’s dramatic. (And I couldn’t agree more about the quality of a
rock…) Perusing her web site is like a trip to a gallery or museum.

I loved the black and white
tones of the Montoya room, especially as seen in the giant, artwork made of
resin hanging on the Madison Avenue wall between the two windows.

My dear interior designer friend, Toni Sabatino –
and a big fan of my book, The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown
Cookbook – Toni has a tradition of placing an autographed copy of the Homegrown book in her completed, heart-of-the-home kitchen designs as a value add for her clients! http://www.houzz.com/pro/tonisab/toni-sabatino

Toni suggested I look up designer John
Douglass Eason at the show (she was headed to the Sunshine State) and then,
just like that, I turned to the majestic staircase and there he was, holding
court, explaining his dramatic use of the space.

To get to his third-floor bedroom design, I had
to walk up two flights of stairs.

Don’t think this is any ol’ “stairway to
heaven,” though.

I thank the artisanal Brooklyn goddesses that
the decorative painter Robin Sacks (www.robinsacksnyc.com) stopped me to
say hello, and point out her work here.

Her two levels of graphic art are colored in black and grey
tones.

Sacks explained the faux finish
glaze, use of greys, blues, beiges and two sultry metallic: pewter and
silver.

“I wanted to transition the
colors from a neutral to the industrial metallic so that it ‘disappears’.”

Pouf.More alchemy.

Reaching the third floor and entering the Edward D. Lobrano (Edward@edwardlobrano.com
designed bedroom was like stepping into serenity.

If all this recent talk of mindfulness has you
scratching your head about what it all means, you will be instantly and
spiritually transported to the essence of increased joy, reduced stress;
mysticism.

At the same time, it will take everything out of
you Not to jump headlong onto the pouf coverlet of the room's four-poster bed, like
Maria in the Sound of Music.

Indeed, taking in the earthy colors, textures,
scale, proportion, and form, you will be humming “these are a few of my
favorite things,” too.

The chocolate brown wood in the bed, armoire,
and an alligator crackled wood table top; the beige slipper chair and ottoman,
along with the anchor accessories, including a fusion of Asian sculpture,
African masks, alabaster chandelier and marble chess set are enriching details
that combine to create a textured ambiance that you can readily see yourself living in.

Sadly, Edward was not there when I was touring.I missed the maestro of design.

Before leaving, I couldn’t help take some shots
of the framed photos, and sent them to my school friend, Jennifer, Edward’s
sister, hoping there was more to the narrative.

I was not disappointed.

Jennifer gleefully wrote back that indeed, the
photos are of their mother and Edward and his dog Spencer, saying of her
mother: “We miss the grand ol’ Dame, she was a classic.”

And I can’t think of a better way to
characterize the room’s look; it too is a classic. With a bit of its whimsical
personality winking back at you…

His smooth as glass, Alistair Cooke delivery
is more “masterful” than fairy tale.

After all, his installation is called, “The
Lady’s Lair.”

And don’t even think this is about some damsel in
distress.

No.

Gideon says his imaginary client shouldn’t
be underestimated; she runs her household and her own company. “She’s an
organized hostess, a reliable friend and an involved parent. And, sometimes,
she needs a break,” he offers.

Gideon’s design gives her a sanctuary that is
bold, assertive, and comforting – in grand style.

Even while workers were installing a few last-minute items, Gideon never broke his cool.

He enthralled me with his tale of “The Lady”
while pointing out the rich materials, furnishings, and color palette.

Who doesn’t love a story about a strong,
successful woman?

He uses the narrative – and the client’s
personality – to weave a tale of intrigue and haute design.

He described the contrast and pull of the
feminine and masculine sides of “The Lady.”

I tossed in a good quotable for him that he immediately made his own:
“tension.”

As in the tension between the two worlds of
masculine and feminine, right brain/left brain, the ying to our yang…

I don’t know what side of mine fell for the wall
covering but I LOVE the teal-colored ultra suede walls by Phillip Jeffries www.phillipjeffries.com .

It is glamorous, sensual and something you can
pet with abandon!

The oak paneling sets it off like a cocktail ring and its
show-stopping gem placed just so... As does the patterned ceiling-as-baguette.

The wall trim is made of hand woven burlap. It's a subtle accessory that adds so much.www.samualandsons.com

Gideon explained the space he started with was
altogether raw – irregularly shaped, and small.

So it’s all the more remarkable to learn that
not only is this his first Kips Bay show, and that he whipped out the design in
about five weeks, but to see that the space is now filled with at least five
distinct areas: work desk, a personal assistant work station, a conference or
dining table, a sitting area, and “time-out” area in front of a fireplace.

The teeny, tiny room is practically a dollhouse,
surely meant for a Hobbit.

Or a typical New Yorker.

If anyone ever says they don’t have the space
for true design, pull out the images of this decorative art home design.

I am particularly attracted to design solutions that overcome situations and challenges. With discerning aplomb.

The designer described the myriad design
challenges besides the closet-sized room (8 x 12’): the need to cover the
electrical panel boxes, no window.

The result is it’s all moody and dark. And mysterious.

And oh so much more.

The inspiration was the Studiolo Renaissance
room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the transporting, diminutive Studiolo, from the Ducal Palace in Siena.

The designers perhaps were further
influenced by the Villard’s Italian Palazzo pedigree.

So too with this room.

Seems counterintuitive, however, it works.

The designer explained that the objects occupy
or help lead the eye in this “Cabinet of Curiosities.”

The room’s reflective surfaces are a study in
elegant solutions. Unlike the Studiolo’s intarsia walls, here the
walls and floors are infused with reflective surfaces.

The ceiling is cork with gold leaf.

It looks
like a star-filled night sky.

The walls are shimmering silk, playing with the light and shadow.

The lighting is a mix of soft spot fixtures and LED
strung inside baffles and a chair rail that were created to wrap the room at unconventional
height levels.

That element is truly worth noting for future
design work.

And then there is the transcending light art: an H.A.
Isle French illumination available at Etos www.etosnyc.com

Alexa Hampton, Mark Hampton, LLC (www.markhampton.com) who was celebrating
her birthday yesterday, is a doll.

I
attended an Architectural Digest Home Design Show panel she participated in, moderated by AD editor, Margaret Russell.

She is witty, classy, and exuberant.

I guess it's safe to say that about her designs,
too.

Alexa's room looked like it was inspired by the "pink
city" of Jaipur.

As was the room designed by Markham Roberts.

Theme two.

Hampton’s room was charged with the bold colors
of an Indian wedding sari: fuchsia, indigo blue and punchy, happy, tiered paper
chandelier, a sisal wall to wall carpet, lots of pattern on pattern tiles, and
I’m "crazy for paisley" chairs.

The window treatments made me think of the romance
of the Taj Mahal.

The third floor hallway transition area is not to be overlooked.

The Brooklyn-based firm Span Architecture showcases a geometric, or algebraic, patterned rug infused with
sparkly Lurex along with clean, modernistic copper lined oak box seats -- no, not the Brooklyn Nets kind -- rather for pausing in this salon space.

The idea of salon as Span sees it, is a
“gathering of people in the home of an interesting host, and assembly of inspiring
art and ideas and a meeting space to debate art, design…”

Nice.

The custom benches, fabricated by Philadelphia’s
Amuneal are said to be made of sustainable wood.www.span-ny.com

The gold-dust fairies worked overtime in the room
designed by Carrier and Company.

The
couple utilized the precious metal in subtle and sophisticated ways: with gold-stacked
tables,

gold-flecked marble walls.

The mirror over the mantel looked like a
gold ink splot.

An animal throw covered
a polished gold-toned daybed perched in front of the fireplace that was filled
with gold tree branches.

The bookshelves
were filled not with books, rather gold square planters and green grass.

The agate stone side table from Matthew Studios
was fancy and a precious accent.

I must
get one of these.

Carrier and Company's husband
and wife team www.carrierandcompany.com
work with some of the city’s top style and design celebrities, including
Vogue’s Anna Wintour, Bob Pittman, Jason Wu and Jay Fielden on town and country
interior designs.

The Markham
Roberts composition was another favorite highlight of the Kips Bay Decorator
Show House. www.markhamrobers.com

The marble-topped bar was sided by white tusks that
I trust are imitation ivory.

The gold lamp looks like so many swirling
nuggets.

This library was surprisingly book-free. Not a
tome or Dewey Decimal system or tome or two, could I see.

Still, the warm tones and bar made this room one you'll like and want to
spend time in.

The White Room was a stark contrast to the other
rainbow saturated ones. Darryl Carter designed the cool, artic white room, laced with
hints of grey, and contrasting rough-hewn woods and a dark wall hanging.

The space looked not unlike a stage-crafted set
for an Ingmar Bergman film.Austere yet
dignified.

I liked the large daybed perched in front of the
fireplace, the console table, and the humorous mouth gags painted on the
portraits.

The Kitchen

Curious that there was only one kitchen in the
Decorator Show House.

But then, with the massive space and
extraordinary design details of the Matthew Quinn installation, it’s “one and
done.”

This “heart of the home” kitchen and the
scullery is all you'll need.

Quinn is a kitchen, bath, and product designer.

With obvious pride and delight, the company’s
previously noted marking guru, Rachel Martin, skillfully took me on a tour of this culinary opus.

Quinn’s attention to detail while creating a broad sweep of space that has to not only look good but serve an oft-used functionality
will leave you deeply impressed.

Now I felt like I was in the land of Gulliver’s
Travels.

The room is 20 feet by 25 feet with a 13-foot
ceiling.

The windows are grand, too, coming in at about 11 feet.

I was curious about the arresting window valances.

As I stepped closer for inspection, Martin tells
me they are custom-made brass pipes that have the look and feel of a pipe
organ.

Really?

Before I can absorb why these handsome window
treatments should have anything to do with an organ, Martin has already waved
me over to the floor-to-ceiling, custom-made 10-foot cabinets, stopping only to
point out the quatrefoil front glass design.

“See where Quinn’s inspiration came from?” she
asks while laying out an arm,Vanna White-style, beyond to the Madison
Avenue-facing window.

“Not really,” I gulp.

“Well,” she starts to explain.

“Before that
scaffolding and building scrim went up over at St. Patrick’s, Matthew
stood here looking across the street to the parapets and quatrefoils of the
cathedral.”

“Brilliant,” I exclaim, grateful for the clarity.

I love inspiration stories.

And this one can lay claim to what can only be characterized as "divine inspiration."

4 comments:

As a landscape enthusiast I am always searching for unusual European garden ornaments. One of my trips led me to the country side of Italy where I fell in love with the natural feel of its gardens. I came back to the US and was trying to find a company which would offer me the same sensation as I had experienced Tuscany. A friend told me about Authentic Provence, the moment I stepped into their showroom I was taken aback in awe. Their exquisite collection of French and Italian antiques were exactly what I was looking for to complement my garden. Now my garden is the show piece, through Authentic Provence's unique garden ornaments. I am now encompassed by the true Tuscan lifestyle. Visit them at www.authenticprovence.com and you will find what you are seeking.

Thank you so much, Vivian. Molto Grazie. I adore that part of the world too - Tuscany is god's country… I will have to check out Authentic Provence - I think I met them at an Architectural Digest show - is that possible? I also love Barbara Israel and on a slightly different track: Pennoyer & Newman. I love to read your garden is a show piece & Tuscan lifestyle -- please send/share a photo or two?? Merci.

About Me

Leeann's first
book: "The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook" is
available now. "New York City Homegrown Cookbook" to follow.

Leeann has
worked in restaurants and food catering and cooks with passion, using food ingredients
from local NYC Greenmarkets and her herb and farm-ette in the Garden State.

She writes a
Food & Drink column for Examiner.com, curating the food spectrum that
dazzles and elevates the radical New York food world.

She writes two
blogs. "Master Chefs and their Gardens" chronicles the making of the
book, "The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook," as well as
the nexus of garden art and culinary art, food events, lectures, Greenmarkets,
growers, cookbook reviews, and food stories. "Garden Glamour" is the
little black dress for gardeners, highlighting best practices, lectures, garden
book reviews, romantic and glamorous gardens and insouciant anecdotes about the
humbling world of gardening.

Leeann
contributed the chapter Public Relations and Marketing Communications to the
successful "Public Garden Management: A Complete Guide to the Planning and
Administration of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta."

Garden
Specialist and principal of Duchess Designs, LLC, Leeann designs artful,
sustainable gardens that tell stories & are endlessly beguiling--in every
season. Leeann received a Certificate in Landscape Design from The New York
Botanical Garden. She worked at NYBG and was Director of Communications,
Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Leeann is an award-winning landscape designer, earning
top honors in the first Broadway in Bloom contest. Two Duchess Designs gardens
are featured in "Cottages and Mansions of the Jersey Shore." Several
garden designs are highlighted in NJ Design magazine. Leeann has served as
judge for the Greenest Block in Brooklyn contest and the New Jersey Flower and
Garden Show. Leeann is a member of MetroHort Group, The Garden Writer's
Association, The Horticultural Society of NY, and The Garden Conservancy.
Leeann designed The Garden Pendant Collection. She's written garden book
reviews for The Two River Times and the Wall Street Journal. Leeann nurtures a
small rooftop garden at her home in Gotham, and herb, edible and display
gardens at her Garden State home.